"I'll be back." Hardly anyone who doesn't know that this famous saying comes from Arnold Schwarzenegger. And although he regularly "comes back," it is rather unlikely to meet him in person at his former home. Nevertheless, the Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum offers a comprehensive insight into the childhood and career of the world star.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger Birthplace in Thal is the official and worldwide only museum that bears his name and is personally supported by him. Already in front of the building, the former forester's house of the Counts Herberstein, you are greeted by Arnold himself, in the form of a larger-than-life bronze statue (by Ralph Crawford). After all, who wouldn't want a photo with Arnie "himself"?
In the museum, which is run with great dedication and love by Peter Urdl, a close school and childhood friend of the "Styrian Oak", you can follow the life and work of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Numerous exhibits show his extraordinary curriculum vitae and the most important periods of his life such as childhood and youth in Thal, bodybuilding, film career and governor period. On display are personal training items of the Termintor, original film posters and props.
By the way: Schwarzenegger's birthday is on July 30, which is celebrated every year in the Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum in Thal. www.arnieslife.com
The Arnold Schwarzenegger Hiking Trail starts and ends directly at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum. Following in Arnie's footsteps, you hike 7.3 km through Thal.
Whether with or without the hike, you should not miss a visit to the nearby parish church of St. Jakob, also known as the Ernst Fuchs Church - an impressive, fairytale-like and colorful place of worship, with which the artist wanted to depict paradise on earth. A visit to the Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum naturally includes a walk along Thalersee. The "Boat of Promise", in which Arnie proposed romantically to Maria Shriver, is preserved here as a monument. Directly on the shore of the lake, it is worth taking an enjoyable break in the invitingly modern Waldcafé.